Week 01 Monday: August 26th, 2024¶

Today's plan:

  1. What does robotics mean to YOU?
  2. How will we approach this course?
  3. What will we cover in this course?
  4. What WON'T we cover?
  5. How do we get started?

What does robotics mean to you?¶

  • What is a robot?
  • What is robotics?
  • What is important for a roboticist to know?

What is a robot?¶

The IEEE defines a robot "simply" as:

A robot is an autonomous machine capable of sensing its environment, carrying out computations to make decisions, and performing actions in the real world.

What do you think about this definition? Which of the following are and are not robots, in your opinion?

Is this a robot?¶

image-2.png

Is this a robot?¶

image.png

What is robotics? What do robots (and roboticists) need to know?¶

How will we approach this course?¶

  • Scope-Model-Validate loop
  • The need for simulation
  • What will we cover? What WON'T we cover?
  • What tools will we use?

Scope-Model-Validate Loop¶

image-2.png

Why do we need simulation (modeling) in robotics?¶

  • convenience
  • expense
  • safety
  • robots can and do use "models" of themselves and their surroundings to make decisions!

Syllabus¶

Where do we start?¶

Two assignments are already released on the course website!

  • A01: "reaction paper"
  • A02: Webots simulation tutorials

There are also resources for you to lean on (I will be adding to these as they become relevant to lecture) linked on that site, along with a link to the textbook!